July 02, 2009

What does the pursuit of Gortat mean?

The Mavericks are going to sign Marcin Gortat to an offer sheet. The big questions now are whether the Orlando Magic will match the offer and, if they don't, what will Gortat do for the Mavericks?

The Magic's ability to match is going to depend on how much and how long the Mavericks' offer to the 6-11 center is for.

If, as is being widely reported, the Mavericks offered the full mid-level exception, that means the contract will start at about $5.5 million for 2009-10. It can be for as long as five years.

That would cost the Mavericks more than $30 million. If the Magic match, they would be on the hook for that much - for a backup center.

If it were for four years, it would be closer to $25 million.

Either way, it would probably push Orlando into luxury-tax territory, or at least to the brink of it. And that's before they deal with Hedo Turkoglu. Or fill out their roster with lower-level dudes.

And did we mention this is for their backup center, since Dwight Howard isn't leaving anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Gortat would end up being a starter for the Mavericks at some point, either this year or next. That would be the plan, anyway. That would be a bargain compared to the $63-mil they paid Erick Dampier.

At any rate, Gortat's is an aggressive move by the Mavericks on a young (25 year old) player who has a strong upside.

Now, if it helps facilitate acquiring a scoring wingman, it'll be an even better move.